Positive Affirmations- Helpful or Hokey?

Affirmations are positive things that you say to yourself, either out loud or in your mind, that are meant to be helpful while you navigate your daily life. You choose a positive statement and say them to yourself referring to yourself in the present tense. It’s called conditioning your neural pathways. Instead of saying ,”I will be..” ,you say, ” I am…”as if whatever you say is true right now.

Here are a few examples of daily affirmations:

I live fully in the present moment. The past and the future are only thoughts and I control my thoughts.

I realize that my health goals are not about denial. They are about purpose.

I love myself right now.

In all that I say and do, I choose peace.

I sleep soundly and peacefully, and awaken feeling rested and energetic.

I let go of all fear and doubt. Life is simple for me.

I am calm, strong and centered.

I believe in positive affirmations. Some of my friends and family think they are a kind of new-age hooey. But I believe that we are what we think. If we are positive in our thoughts, doesn’t it follow that we will be positive in our actions? I can seriously find nothing wrong with that. Who needs to keep beating themselves up with negativity? That accomplishes…what exactly?

One of my favorite affirmations from Louise Hay is “I am beautiful and everybody loves me.” Do I repeat it to myself to gain confidence in the workplace or in party situations? YES! Am I embarrassed to admit it? Oh, heck yes! But it works for me. Try it- it might work for your too.

I guarantee that when you keep this in your mind and repeat it to yourself even if you do not believe it at the moment, it works! Maybe you REALLY feel that you will be beautiful when you loose 30 pounds, when you get a new wardrobe, when you accomplish everything that you want. You think then and only then will you be beautiful. But say this anyway. Do what Louise recommends- look into a mirror and look straight into your own eyes and repeat this: I am beautiful and everybody loves me. It will make you laugh as you feel foolish saying something that makes you sound and seem kind of conceited. I know I did the first time- and the second and the third. But with the laugh came the smile and when I walk into a room with a smile, everybody DOES love me. Maybe they aren’t aware of it but they do. LOL…Well, they don’t hate me anyway.

Now I’m just goofing with it, but it’s true that when you smile, people respond positively and doesn’t that make for a nicer life?

Now, I even buy mugs with positive affirmations on them. This photo of my mug and my hands was taken by my husband. We were out in the wilds on an art day when he wanted me to stay still for the picture. I told him that I did not want pictures of my ugly, paint splattered hands. But, he convinced me that there is nothing wrong with showing my hands. (Don’t worry. I realize that he’s a photographer so he will say anything to get a photo. )

You are Amazing

One of the things that I struggle with , as do a lot of others apparently, is body image. For instance I have a very strong love-hate relationship with my hands. I hate them because they are not feminine. They have short-stocky fingers and are large for a girl. Remember that Seinfeld episode where Jerry had to break up with a girl because she had man hands? Well, I guess mine aren’t THAT bad, but they are not cute, thin and blessed with long fingered grace either. So I don’t wear jewelry on my hands or wrists- ever.

BUT I also love my hands. My hands are strong and capable and I know how to do a lot of things with them. There is a lot of living in these hands. Even with scars, wrinkles and ever present paint, I can craft a good home with them. That is important to me, so yes, I love my hands.

Will I wear jewelry on my hands? Ummm…. no, probably not, but I’ll keep working on accepting them and me exactly as I am. We should all do that. So, look into a mirror, straight into your own eyes and say….